Catarina's World

Sixteen of the fastest growing countries in the world are in Africa. No you didn’t get it wrong. Seven are in South East Asia followed by three in Central Asia. So has Africa’s time finally come and the continent will now forge ahead?

Ethiopia is predicted to grow at least 8% per annum for the next few years. If so, it will be as normal for Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, to take center stage globally as for her Western and Asian counterparts.

According to the IMF we will see more African countries with massive growth during the next few years. They also forecast that many African economies will outpace Asian countries, even China and India.

The shoe is on the other foot

Angola is now lending money to it’s former colonial master Portugal struggling in the Euro crisis. Not so long ago nobody would have thought such a development possible.

Many of us have worked extensively to further the interests of Africa and hence hope real progress has now started. But somehow can’t help wondering what will go wrong this time because something usually does. Really hope it is correct that Africa as a whole will grow 7% on a yearly basis over the next two decades?

Surging demand for raw materials and foreign investment driving progres

The continents changing fortunes seems to be, at least partly, based on China’s demand for raw materials, higher commodities prices and increased inflow of foreign investment. Africa’s rising middle class have also fuelled growth in domestic demand. There is global interdependence in respect of production and demand. Africa offers producers around the world a vast and growing market that will keep on expanding.

African governments improving

Government is improving in Africa and corruption is less than it used to be. Seems the NEPAD peer review mechanism have made a difference when it comes to implementing true democracy, good corporate governance, transparency and eradicate corruption. Nowhere else in the world has such a process ever taken place and its uniqueness was well illustrated by former President Bush’s remark, “We don’t do that in America”. More and more governments are being responsible and putting money aside to cushion their economies. Know-how is also improving. As a result of statisticians improving their data in Ghana their GDP was revised up by as much as 75%.

Trade not aid

Africa, the poorest continent, according to many analysts, bares the brunt of the continued rigging of trade rules in the WTO. And in order to prosper the continent needs to trade out of poverty, as opposed to relying on aid. According to the UN, just one percent of increase in exports from Africa is worth a staggering five times the amount it receives in aid and debt relief.

Africans recognises their responsibility to wipe out the gap between the continent and the rest of the world. Africa wants to improve its role in the world economy. Its contribution to world trade is hopelessly small. They want to get its house in order, but the rest of the world needs to play its part as well. For example, Africa is told it may not subsidise its agriculture, so the Western world shouldn’t be doing so either, but as we know both the EU and US does. Jean Chretien put it very well when he stated “we must realize that little progress will be made with investments and trade if Africans continue to be refused access to our markets”.

African media has a role to play

Can’t help thinking about what President Chissano told me in 2004. According to him a major obstacle to improving the image of Africa is that the African press, like it’s Western counterparts, focus on scandals to grab headlines. Naturally a free press is essential, but the down side of that is that far too many negative stories come out of Africa, deter foreign investors and hence have a detrimental affect on the progress of the continent. Maybe it would be a good idea for African media to also show case African success stories? That Angola is growing faster than China would be a start.

The world’s new manufacturing centre?

Unfortunately commodity driven growth doesn’t generate enough jobs. However, now with salaries increasing in Asia  Africa could become the new manufacturing centre. Kenya and Uganda have already increased their export sector. To make this reality the WTO need to facilitate market access for products made in Africa on the world market. If not, Africa may continue to be a scar on the the conscience of the West.

There are many obstacles to Africa continuing to progress. Political instability, weak rule of law, corruption, bad infrastructure as well as poor health and education. So without the political will to reform, the current growth rate will be difficult to sustain. However, for outside companies looking for new markets a whole continent almost sounds too good to be true. But that’s what a developing Africa, with a gradually burgeoning middle class and numbers of skilled workers constantly increasing would constitute. A vast and growing market for the world’s manufactured products, intermediate goods and services. Add to that UN figures showing that investments in Africa provide higher rates of return than anywhere else in the world. It has been said for more than a decade that Africa’s time has come. But maybe now with the changed world order due to the recent global crisis, will Africa finally be able to progress? What do you believe? Will Africa now be able to forge ahead or will the gap between Africa and the rest of the world remain as wide as it is?

(Photo copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org)/Photo by Zahur Ramji / Mediapix)

We have all heard about how officials and companies are making the money assigned to rebuild Iraq disappear. But did you know that recently there’s also been a record number of US soldiers convicted of such theft and bribery? Devote 2 minutes to watching Gayane Chichakyan reporting:

Isn’t it interesting how little coverage the issue of the missing billions have had in the media? The US military promised they would help rebuild war torn Iraq. Sure, there has been some aid, but unfortunately war contractors are getting away with billions of dollars in profits. In some parts of Iraq there is still no running water,even though someone has been paid to arrange that.

War profiteers steal billions

What amazes me even more is that many war time contractors have been given money to build hospitals that never opened and jails that will never hold any prisoners. On top of it these contractors that have stolen billions from US tax payers have complete impunity from the justice system. Congress has cut the funding to these contractors, but their report will be sealed until 2031. For more in-debth coverage of the problem  watch this interesting video:

Only going after petty thiefs

Isn’t it amazing that soldiers stealing a few thousand dollars are taken to court while US contractors pocketing billions have immunity? Makes you wonder what the US congress is doing, doesn’t it? Can’t help wondering if they will honour their promise to rebuild Iraq? It’s worth remembering that Iraq is still paying Kuwait for the damage they caused when they invaded.

If it wasn’t so critical to rebuild Iraq we could just say that we were not surprised. But the UNHCR  is concerned about almost 2 million people inside Iraq and about 3,4 million originating from Iraq. In other words more than five million people are yet to be able return home to a safe and sound environment. Many of them live in deplorable conditions in camps and it’s actually these people’s lives the people stealing the funds are ruining.

So how can Iraq be rebuilt? Not only are corrupt officials bagging the money but contractors and US soldiers as well. The longer we wait the more problematic the situation in Iraq will be. It’s already the Wild West and the sooner it’s rebuilt the better for not only Iraq but the world. We don’t need another failed state. One solution would be for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to coordinate an effort. But that’s unlikely considering the role Iran is playing in Iraq. Is it likely that Iran will rebuild it? Or does it serve their interest to keep Iraq the way it is? Maybe The Arab League could be in charge of rebuilding it? After what happened to the UN in the country, is it likely the United Nations would be prepared to coordinate the effort? Or should the US take its responsibility and find new funds to rebuild the country? What’s your opinion? And how can we assure that money allocated will be used to rebuild Iraq and not end up in someone’s pocket?

India has made a ground-breaking move by legalizing the right to free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14 in India.

The millions of Indian girls that are yet not attending school will, like these girls, soon be educated.

UNICEF estimates there are eight million children in this age group, mostly girls, who are out-of-school in India. “Tens of millions of children will benefit from this initiative ensuring quality education with equity,” said UNICEF Representative in India Karin Hulshof.

The Right to Education Act will “propel India to even greater heights of prosperity and productivity for all guaranteeing children their right to a quality education and a brighter future,” she added.

UNICEF, along with UNESCO and the International Labor Organization (ILO), said that without India, the world cannot reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of having every child complete primary school by 2015.

“This act is an essential step towards improving each child’s accessibility to secondary and higher education, bringing India closer to achieving national educational development goals, as well as the MDGs and Education for All (EFA),” UNESCO New Delhi Director Armoogum Parsuramen said.

The Indian move is laudable and since the bill was passed already in August last year to be implemented swiftly, presumably by now more Indian children are already attending school? If not, what’s the progress so far and when is it estimated that all children will start going to school?

It is my hope that more countries will follow in India’s footsteps and make sure all their young get basic schooling. If they do, it will be a huge step in the right direction that will eventually lead to a better world for all of us.

Photo: Flickr curlymay